BLOCKBUSTER TRADE: Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi and Philadelphia Flyers General Manager Paul Holmgren got the drop on the rest in terms of draft day deals by completing a draft-eve, blockbuster trade that sent center Mike Richards to the Kings in exchange for right wing Wayne Simmonds, center prospect Brayden Schenn, and a second round pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Also includes details on Ryan Smyth requesting to be traded and about the Kings and the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Mike Richards
Photo: Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — With the Stanley Cup Finals and the National Hockey League’s annual awards extravaganza behind us, at this time of year, attention turns to the annual NHL Entry Draft, which is often accompanied by a slew of draft day trades.

Los Angeles Kings star forward Anze Kopitar (center) suffered a broken right ankle late in the second period during a 4-1 win over
the Colorado Avalanche at Staples Center
in Los Angeles on March 26, 2011.
Photo: Noah Graham/NHLI via Getty Images and the Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES — Going into the 2010-11 season, the Los Angeles Kings were expected to be a playoff team, as they were last season. But expectations were higher this season, their benchmark for success being to make it into the second round, the Western Conference semi-finals, and with just eight games remaining, their prospects were looking good.

But all that may have come crashing down on March 26, during a decisive 4-1 win over the hapless Colorado Avalanche, as the Kings lost star center Anze Kopitar, who suffered a broken right ankle in a freakish fall late in the second period.

He will be out of the lineup for a minimum of six weeks.

Kopitar will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination on March 28, when the full extent of his injury will become clear, and although there has been no further word from the Kings medical staff, no one should be surprised if Kopitar will be out of the lineup for much longer than six weeks.

At the 15:39 mark of the second period, Kopitar fell backwards, his right leg twisting while his skate remained firmly planted on the ice. Video of the incident, especially slow motion replay, was a gruesome sight to behold. Read more of this post

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: In the third and final installment of this series, Los Angeles Kings head coach Terry Murray talks about his plans for the upcoming season, especially in terms of improving his team’s ability to score at even strength.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Entering his third season as head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, Terry Murray has watched his team improve each year.

In his first season, 2008-09, the Kings finished 14th in the Western Conference and 26th in the overall National Hockey League standings, well out of the playoff picture.

But the silver lining from that year was a dramatic drop in goals against and shots allowed, as the team learned to protect the “home plate” area in the slot, right in front of the net.

After one year under Murray’s tutelage, the 2009-10 Kings broke through with a 101-point finish to their regular season, launching them into sixth place in the Western Conference and into the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Read more of this post

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